donezo

presented my last, "seminal" piece of work for my master's program this afternoon. it was well received. my class is a mixed bag of documentary students and long-form magazine-style writers. i am neither. i squeaked into the class because i decided that one of my majors - i had two - wasn't worth a damn, so i dropped it and took this class instead.

if you want to get an idea of what we writers in the class were striving to do, read something written by katherine boo, formerly of the new yorker, or hanna rosin, an editor at the atlantic.

i'm going to be pitching my story to a magazine after the holidays are over. it's sort of my meal ticket, or a big break, if i get published, but i understand that it's a bit of a long shot. a feature-length story by a very green writer... hmm.

so our presentation today consisted of full screenings of all four documentaries (each around 20 minutes in length) and the 10 stories written by the long form writers. we only read excerpts. i was the second person to present, which was lucky, because we still had a full house at that point, and people were still awake. four hours later, not so much. most everyone that wasn't in the class had bounced (could you blame them? four unrelenting hours, no breaks) and the people that were there were completely saturated.

i went and drank a pitcher of 312 afterward with my good friend amy, her roomies and a couple of people from the program. the idea was that our whole class was supposed to go for drinks, but of course being journalists we just dissipate and do our own thing. MBA students we are not. by drank a pitcher i mean we each had a pitcher's worth of beer, not that we split one. this is the midwest, after all.

so now i get to pack up my life yet again, and deploy boxes to the four corners of the earth. i'm beginning to think i don't have the right to own anything. i also can't sleep and have a headache from the beer. i took a melatonin and hope to be sleeping soon.

possibly said today

"and, jesse, where's he?"

"yeah, where is jesse?"

"he's drumming."

"drumming?"

"oh. still doing that?"

"yeah, drumming. with a cardboard tube on a... box. and miaowing."

"drumming and miaowing out the window."

"i see."

"he's just so good at it, the miaowing."

A is for asparagus, P is for pizza!

photo credit

i had my most defining californian-in-chicago moment last week after the cubs game. my friend amy, who grew up in a northwest chicago suburb, was kind enough to invite me to a cubs game with a couple of her family members and friends. we go, and i manage to impress at least amy and the girl next to her with my double hot-dog and fries chowdown. and then after the game we go to a pizza place.

not any pizza place, mind you. this is a walk-in joint just a few steps from wrigley field, meaning it sees dozens if not hundreds of drunk cubs fans a few times a week (and, let me tell you, no one does drunk like cubs fans. maybe white sox fans). its specialty is pasta pizza, by which i mean pizzas that are topped with pasta dishes: tortellini, mac 'n cheese, chicken alfredo penne. after my hot dog duo, i thought i'd go light with a slice of the asparagus and potato pizza. after a couple of bites, i gave up. my stomach couldn't take it. i tried mightily to give my pizza away, but no one, not even amy's trash-compactor of a brother-in-law, would even touch my slice.


shit. in california, a pizza covered in asparagus and thin slices of yukon gold tater would sound like a spectacular idea, especially for the drunk baseball fan who wants to squeeze some veggies into her ballpark diet. in chicago, i became the pizza leper. i got "eewwwwwwws" in surround sound. it was brutal.

driving at night

jesse and i decided to go and get popeye's at 10 tonight. then we decided he should learn to drive a stick shift, which he did. and so we had late-night driving and chicken eating, giggling all the while.

a note about today

so, today was productive. i got a story idea just before noon from my professor, joe, reported the shit out of it and produced a story by around 4 p.m. i was impressed with myself. it involves a local manufacturer's role in the gulf oil spill cleanup efforts, so i was able to reach the manufacturer, the coast guard and BP in the span of a few hours, which was lucky.

joe was heavy-handed in editing the lede and nut grafs (the first paragraph and the 'graph with "the point" of the story) which i don't love, honestly. i put a lot of thought into word selection, i emphasize flow and language, and he emphasizes clarity. as he should, i suppose. anyway, enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo credit: BP p.l.c.

Nalco supplies dispersant for oil cleanup effort 

May 11, 2010

Naperville-based Nalco Holding Co. is keeping up with the need for its chemical dispersant in attacking the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The dispersant has been sprayed multiple times a day, a total of more than 325,000 gallons so far, over the oil spreading on the surface. On Monday the Environmental Protection Agency also conducted its third test of the chemical on the ocean floor, according to the Coast Guard.

The dispersant, called COREXIT, is being tested both for effectiveness and for impact on the Gulf’s water ecology.

The effect of using such a large amount of dispersant is unknown, according to Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley. The impact on sea life is a primary concern for the EPA in continuing tests.

COREXIT is a proprietary chemical compound made of organic sulfonic acid salts, a surfactant, and propylene glycol, a solvent, which breaks the oil into small droplets, making it digestible to ocean bacteria.

COREXIT is being transported via air from stock points around the world and via truck from Nalco’s Texas plant.

“We have been working very hard with our suppliers to get the raw materials,” said Nalco spokesman Charlie Pajor. “We have sufficient production capacity, so that is not a problem.”
The company declined to state the revenues generated from COREXIT shipments in the quarter, but stated that material information would be reported as required to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nalco maintains that the dispersant underwent strenuous testing by the EPA before being approved for oil spill cleanups.

Applying the dispersant is one of many efforts made to lessen the impact of the gushing deep-water oil well spilling an estimated 5,000 barrels per day into the Gulf of Mexico. The leak was caused by an April 20 drilling rig explosion, which killed 11 people and sank the rig owned by Transocean Ltd. The deepwater well is located about 45 miles from Venice, La.

Nalco has shipped all available inventory to the cleanup site, and reported that it was receiving “great support” by its suppliers in turning around as much of the compound as quickly as possible, according to its chairman and CEO, Erik Fyrwald, during an interview by CNBC last Monday.

“Our focus is not on the business impact of this. Our only focus is to supporting BP and the government agencies in dealing with this crisis as best we can,” said Fyrwald. “This is a crisis that we all want to help make sure comes to a positive end.”

Nalco’s stock closed at $24.09 on Tuesday, down 0.21 percent or 5 cents after reaching a four-month high of $26.19 on May 3, which was the day CEO Fyrwald appeared on CNBC as well as on Fox Business News.

other recent stories II

New CTA cars prioritize capacity, not service, experts say

April 16, 2010

Two Chicago transportation experts expressed doubts about the seating configurations in the new Chicago Transit Authority rail cars unveiled Thursday during a press conference.

The center-facing seats are seen as less comfortable for passengers, and may make the CTA less competitive as a mode of transportation.

“When you’re looking at the viewpoint of competing for riders, then that’s not going to achieve it. Purely from a service standpoint, having the new cars with the technology is good, that’s all positive. The main negative is from the overall user experience,” said Professor Hani Mahmassani, director of the Northwestern University Transportation Center.

The new train car model retires the current seat configuration in favor of space-saving aisle-facing seats. The new design reduces the number of seats by about 17 percent.

“The density in our system isn’t so great that we should write off getting a seat. I’m not talking about the Red Line at rush hour, I’m talking about the other 90 percent of the system,” said Joseph Schwieterman, director of DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development.

The prototypes, which will start test runs on the Red Line next week, have four fold-up and 34 aisle-facing seats, creating a wider center aisle and more space for bicycles, strollers and luggage at the expense of up to eight fewer seats per car. Overall, the new model increases maximum passenger capacity to 123 passengers.

“I think as other modes of transportation become more comfortable, it’s a shame that the CTA is taking a step backwards with fewer seats. It reinforces the notion that transit is inherently uncomfortable,” Schwieterman said.

In the Chicago area, the average commute by train is approximately 45 minutes, including walk time, while in a car it’s about 25 minutes, according to experts.

The seating configuration was at the request of the CTA, according to the manufacturer, Montreal-based Bombardier Transportation Mass Transit Corp.

“The end result is a wider aisle, more room to maneuver. It’s easier to get on and off,” said Maryanne Roberts, spokeswoman for Bombardier.

The new fleet, comprising 406 rail cars and a $603.6 million investment, is sorely needed. The new models will replace cars that have been in service for up to 41 years and have outdated, inefficient propulsion and braking systems. The recommended lifespan for a rail car is 25 years.

The new design adds six inches to the narrowest point of center aisles, and will have passenger support poles and hard straps plus two spaces for wheelchairs. The prototypes include several new passenger safety features, a more efficient braking system, an improved communication system and modernized climate regulation.

New safety features include seven networked security cameras per car, an intercom enabling the rail operator to see and communicate with passengers, and an emergency communication system. Lighted station indicator maps and destination signs will also be on the interior and exterior of the new 5000 series model.

Navistar optimistic for 2010 earnings

April 08, 2010

Commercial truck and engine manufacturer Navistar International Corp. Thursday increased earnings guidance for 2010, raising its net income forecast to between $198 million to $234 million, or $2.75 to $3.25 per diluted share.

The improved outlook was attributed to a stronger economic climate, an increase in military sales and improved margins in the truck and parts business. Previous earnings guidance for the fiscal year ending Oct. 30 was $1.75 to $2.25.

Navistar, based in Warrenville, anticipates its defense segment revenues to land in the range of $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion, with confirmed orders worth $2 billion. Military sales last year totaled $2.8 billion.

Analysts responded positively, if cautiously, to the news. Chicago-based Barrington Research Associates Inc. analyst Walter Liptak highlighted the company’s potential for an early rebound as an advantage over competitors, and identified Navistar as a solid company for longer-term investment.

“The military sales is a positive for this year, but the thing that will really help NAV is the new 2010 trucks which should help the company gain market share,” Liptak wrote in an email.

Navistar Chairman and CEO Daniel Ustian told analysts that the revenues from the military orders would fall primarily into the third quarter, and that the profitability outlook for the second quarter was “right on the line.” Non-operational items, not margin on existing orders, will swing the second quarter results, Ustian said.

Liptak decreased his second-quarter earnings estimates to a penny from 20 cents, but increased third-quarter estimates to $1.52 from $1.33.

Commercial truck industry sales dropped sharply during the economic slowdown, bringing Navistar’s retail truck sales in 2009 to its lowest point in 47 years.

Navistar’s stock increased 94 cents, or 2 percent, to close at $48.00 Thursday.

other recent stories

UAL reports higher sales, narrowed losses

April 27, 2010

UAL Corp. reported improved first-quarter results with a narrower loss driven by an uptick in revenue. Earnings beat the Wall Street consensus estimate by a considerable margin but the stock dropped 8.3 percent.

UAL lost $82 million, or 49 cents per share, an improvement from the prior-year loss of $382 million, or $2.64 per share, even as volatile fuel expenses increased nearly 20 percent.

Analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance were expecting a loss of 77 cents in the quarter ended March 31. Chicago-based UAL, the holding company for United Airlines Inc., reported a revenue increase of nearly 15 percent to $4.24 billion from $3.69 billion the prior year.

UAL executives said the airline is still has a long way to go. “There is much more work to do and much more potential to be realized,” said United's Executive Vice President John Tague.

The company announced Friday a change in its frequent flier mileage revenue calculation. Analysts were supportive of the change in accounting practice, which lifted revenue per available seat mile – an industry metric measuring demand—by an estimated 1.5 percent to 2 percent

Hudson Holding Corp. analyst Daniel McKenzie raised his full-year earnings estimate to $3.20 per share from $2.30 based on the accounting change.

Analysts’ reactions ranged from tentative to positive about the quarter.

“We believe fundamentals are very solid,” wrote Gary Chase, an analyst with Barclays Bank PLC, in a research note. He raised his earnings estimate for the year to $2.55 from $1.40 and the target stock price to $30 from $25.

UBS Securities LLC analyst Kevin Crissey maintained his 2010 target price of $30 and full-year earnings per share forecast of $2.30. He wrote in a note that “compared to our model, revenue and costs were in-line to slightly worse.”

United executives expressed cautious optimism about the quarter during a conference call with analysts, referencing signs of recovering customer demand.

CEO Glenn Tilton said the company was “encouraged to see early recovery” in business passenger revenues. He also repeatedly mentioned United’s position among its competitors, adding the company posted the “best net margin of the five major U.S. carriers.”

Despite repeated attempts by analysts to address United’s merger talks with Continental Airlines, executives declined to comment during the conference call.

United stock closed Tuesday at $20.51, down $1.85 or 8.3 percent.

Cautious optimism for Boeing in 2010

April 21, 2010

Boeing Co., a leading aerospace manufacturer, reported decreased earnings Wednesday based on continuing soft sales in its commercial aircraft segment, but beat analysts’ expectations by 6 cents. Its stock rose 3.9 percent.

First-quarter earnings for the Chicago-based company fell 14.9 percent to $519 million, or 70 cents per diluted share, down from $610 million, or 87 cents per diluted share, last year. Analysts surveyed by Yahoo! Finance were expecting earnings of 64 cents.

Earnings reflected a 20-cent per share charge related to the recent healthcare legislation.

Boeing’s revenue for the quarter ended March 31, decreased 8 percent to $15.2 billion from $16.5 billion in 2009.

Boeing decreased its earnings guidance for the rest of the year to between $3.50 and $3.80 from its previous forecast of $3.70 to $4.00 based on healthcare costs. The $64 billion to $66 billion revenue forecast for 2010 was attributed to lowered aircraft production rates and reduced military spending.

“We are pleased with our first-quarter performance but recognize there is a lot of work to be done this year across both of our businesses,” said Boeing President James Bell during a call with analysts.

The company’s commercial airplanes segment saw an upswing in profit margin but decreased revenues, which dropped 13 percent to $7.47 billion from the same quarter last year. Boeing attributed lower revenues to fewer 747 airplane deliveries and issues with its seat supplier. Even so, margins for the commercial unit increased to 9.1 percent of sales from 4.9 percent during the first quarter of 2009. The company cited “strong operating performance” as the reason for the increase.

Boeing’s other business sector – defense, space and security – also saw a modest decrease in revenues over the previous year, shrinking 1 percent to $7.61 billion. The decline was driven primarily by lower volume in its network and space systems division. Margins decreased to 8.7 percent of revenue from 9.2 percent last year.

Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney indicated that the U.S. Department of Defense and other military agencies continue to face significant budget pressures.

Boeing’s business volume is split between its commercial and defense segments. Despite some shrinkage in its military revenue forecasts and slower sales on the commercial side, Boeing will continue to invest in program development for the rest of the year. R&D spending is forecast to rise to between $3.9 billion and $4.1 billion. Operating cash flow is expected to be zero for the year, reflecting a pension contribution of less than $100 million and a buildup of inventory.

Analysts are supportive of Boeing’s significant capital expenditures but are cautious about program development costs. A new assembly line for 787s in South Carolina, was an expected investment with the bulk of the costs landing in 2010.

“Boeing has significant execution risk related to its development programs, both in its commercial and military businesses,” wrote UBS Securities LLC analyst David Strauss in a research note. Strauss maintained his “neutral” rating with earnings estimates of $3.80 for the year, on the high end of the company’s guidance.

“We believe it is a positive sign that R&D guidance remains unchanged for the year,” wrote Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. analyst Troy Lahr in a research note.

The company expects R&D spending to drop in fiscal 2011.

Boeing stock closed at $74.16 on Wednesday, up $2.75 per share, or 3.9 percent.

by popular demand

or really, just one person...

the url for medill's new service is: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/

this story is on the front page now, but front pages get changed just about daily. the best way to find business writing (which is frequently too boring to be included on the front page) is to click on the "business" link at the bottom of the page.

to find my stuff, i type my name into the search box.

believe me, we know how ghetto and user-unfriendly our website is. everyone is embarrassed by it, especially the knight scholars, who could easily re-build the front end in a day if someone would let them. our CMS is also off the hook and involves pounding flax into paper and making ink out of crushed beetles.

keep in mind that we write to a local audience, so everything is localized unless it's a story involving news in chicago or illinois. i've become the queen of graphs and the consultant extraordinaire in the newsroom for quick excel graphs that look terrible (but are accurate). we get extra points (literally) for graphs that we make, so i - being of reasonable intelligence - always include a graph or image with my stories. it basically doubles the points for my stories, enabling me to halve the number of stories i actually need to write for the course.

here's my story from thursday:

Unemployment claims drop, economy still weak

April 29, 2010

Advance initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to 448,000 in the week ended April 24, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor. That was down 11,000 from a revised figure of 459,000 the previous week.

Economists were expecting 445,000 claims, according to Yahoo Finance.

“Any time it goes down is good news,” said Michael Miller, associate professor of economics at DePaul University in Chicago.

Despite the decrease and other early indications of a stabilizing American economy, local experts say that the country is still in recession. The four-week moving average of initial claims rose by 1,500 to 462,500, an increase from the prior week’s average. The moving average has climbed for the past several weeks.

In Illinois, the four-week average decreased by 228 claims compared with the prior week. The four-week number paints a more accurate picture, and shows that last week’s claims are “in essence relatively flat, and down significantly from a year ago,” said Richard Kaye, an economist with the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Compared with the same period a year ago, new claims are down 41 percent, or 9,320 claims.

Illinois had fewer layoffs in the construction and service industries, according to the report.

“Job loss is slowing down, but you still have a pretty terrible labor market. That’s certainly true for Illinois,” said Bob Bruno, a professor at University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Labor and Employment Relations. “The average duration on unemployment is still terribly high. Illinois is in that group of states that has to keep extending unemployment benefits.”

During a robust economic phase, initial unemployment claims can number from 325,000 to 400,000, according to Miller.

“While moving in the right direction, we’re still at the level of claims in the middle of recession numbers. We still have a long way to go,” Miller said. “We were worse for so long in the 600-range.”

In March, more than 44 percent of the nation’s unemployed had been jobless for 27 or more weeks, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The March unemployment rate in Illinois was 11.7 percent, compared with the national average of 10.2 percent.

The four-week average may have been negatively skewed due to the timing of the Easter holiday, according to local experts.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 122 points Thursday.

damn, so

photo credits, by the way, are documented by way of photo links

grad school went and got all hard this week. wtf?! i thought i was just going to be partying the whole way through. oh wait, that's b-school. my bad.

i have something like 7 deadlines by next tuesday. didn't i used to get paid to have a to-do list like that? all of us in my main class, newswriting, kind of freaked out this morning and pressured our teacher into pushing our audio story deadline out a few days. having to crunch numbers is one thing, but when you have to interview folks you can't actually work late at night. inconvenient.

i am still working on a project where we go and hit the members of 4 suburbs with interviews. it's not fun. my classmate amy and i are devising a rather clever plan to go to local dives and conduct our interviews. it must be easier to talk to fools after a drink or two. and amy reasons that people don't wander far for their local watering hole, so we're definitely going to be getting actual residents of that town, unlike at malls, where everyone from the 3 closest states come to shop. people travel for commerce.

was feeling mighty discouraged (friggin sources won't cooperate when you want them to, i'm discovering) and then heard from my professor to call him. damn it. it turned out well, i'm getting some decent grades up front, and he said some nice things. this is still the beginning, mind you. i'm anticipating an epic fail somewhere along these lines. helped brighten my outlook a bit.

week two

[insert photo of some snow-covered street as i am beginning to understand i will be completely obsessed with the weather until summer]

so starting week two of classes. it has been a whirlwind, i suspect mainly because of how many people have told me that this year will be the craziest of my life (versus it actually being that crazy quite yet). last monday was our orientation, all eight hours of it. by the time the reception rolled around at 5 pm, i went immediately to the bar, procured booze, then bee-lined to a chair and sat in it for a few minutes without speaking or making eye contact. i was completely drained.

day two was our editing class, four hours of grammar and punctuation. it will be a useful and painful weekly occurrence.

the rest of the week was/is spent in newswriting. this class is all-day and intensive. i can't manage to put together strings of words to describe it other than my assigned projects will force me to learn how to present news in formats including written features, audio, video, written investigative reporting, written hard news reporting, and such. so far it has proved interesting, if a bit unwieldy, time-wise.

i am learning that journalists like very much to talk (about themselves, about their experiences, about people they know, about you, about people you know, about your experiences, about dude next to you, his experiences, his opinion on the kindle and how digital readers will impact the industry) and don't seem to give much of a fig about efficiency. it doesn't seem to bother most of the class, but it does bother me some. i think that at nearly 32 years old (about 10 years older than everyone else, sort of joking but not entirely) and having had a career where business processes are constantly being evaluated for efficiency... it's difficult to sit in a classroom for six hours when we could have covered the material, the assignment, and a fair amount of bullshit in three. but... that's not a big complaint. i rate the faculty as excellent so far. i've met a few people and they seem cool and interesting and funny. i like the administration. the cafeteria options are pretty shitty, but that's to be expected. i like my apartment. i ordered a new backpack because i didn't own one with a laptop sleeve (that's how long i've been out of school) and i like my new backpack. i am close to school and i like that.

so we shall proceed and see what comes next.

indoors daisy

early observation: it's strange that most activities (and admittedly, i have few these days) are spent in avoidance of being outside. i've never avoided going outside unless it's pouring rain. today, you couldn't get me to leave the building without a crow bar, and it's "warmed up" to 15 degrees. fahrenheit.

evanston - first days

first evening alone in about 11 days. not that i'm counting, but one doesn't blog much when there are only two of you and no TV. i'm remedying that soon. the TV part, i mean. trevor thinks it's weird that a journalism student doesn't have a TV. i think it's weird to have free cable TV and no TV. either way, we end up agreeing on most things, and having a TV is one of them.

this year was my first christmas away from my family. not that big of a deal, surprisingly. i love christmas so i thought i might be feeling bummy about it, but i emotionally detach pretty well when i need to. trevor's family is actually great, so we had plenty of nights by the fire with his family and the doggies. xmas day was anti-climatic as it always is - spent at his uncle and aunt's place with a few uncles and cousins and more dogs. football was on so i was left to my own devices with the younger cousins and sisters. i think i like the wind-up to the holidays - the shopping and prep and food and hot drinks. the actual day is just icing.

it has snowed - or, more accurately, precipitated - for the past 7 solid days. i haven't let it keep me inside. upper 20s and 30s farenheit is nothing when you are anticipating -10, -20, -30 which should be arriving shortly. i guess i'll start feeling the shock of the move at a later point, but truthfully evanston and the surrounding suburbs of chicago are incredibly diverse, so i don't feel that out of place. nothing like the monstrous anglo wasteland called denver. there are asian markets and asian restaurants, women in burkas picking produce next to korean grandpas. it all feels quite natural. next week, when the weather clears a bit we're hoping to explore chicago's chinatown and little italy for some eats.

i'm having a harder time adjusting to being a student again. 10 years past graduation is a long time to be out of school. i finally got my shit together this week and ordered the software, electronic toys, and books. i read through my syllabi this morning and started to realize that i'm actually going to be in school again. kind of a mind bender.